COMPETITION

Railway romance

Jaspistos

In Competition No. 1600 you were in- vited to provide a publisher's blurb for one of two titles from a new British Rail romance library: First-Class Fool and Ex- cess Fare for Julia. I've had a few thrills on the railway myself, all of them on the Paddington- Oxford stretch. I was once in a window seat when the glass in front of my nose shattered and a small object dropped at my feet. Nobody spoke for a bit, then, like Naunton Wayne in The Lady Vanishes, the man opposite me folded his newspaper and remarked, 'That's a bullet.' An interesting debate followed on whether one of us should pull the emergency chain or whether we should keep mum and get to Paddington on time. On another occasion, I was breakfasting rather groggily when I noticed that my marmalade, of which I'd just swallowed a great dollop, was full of slivers of broken glass. Another debate, internal this time: should I get out at Reading and report to the nearest hospital, or take a chance? (The price of the marmalade only was deducted from my bill.) Romance? Well, yes, there was that charming girl I got into conversation with near Didcot, who let me feature in her life

until she got a high-up job in the Girl Guides organisation.

It was Julia all the way this week, hardly a first-class fool to be seen. Some of you interpreted 'excess fare' impishly, so that she became 'an overweight chocoholic nibbling her way between Orpington and Charing Cross'. Robert Baird, Simon Johns, Bryan White, Roger Jeffreys and Ba Miller all amused, but the prize money (£15 each) goes to those printed below, and the bonus bottle of Cognac Otard VSOP, kindly presented by the Chateau de Cognac, is won by Elizabeth Ashman.

When Julia, a successful solicitor, bought a Victorian terrace house in Peterborough, one thing she hadn't bargained for was romance by courtesy of British Rail. However, when her eyes meet with those of a tall fair stranger across a crowded railway carriage, she experiences an unexpected frisson. The speed with which the relationship develops, with its stolen moments alone and the exhilaration of the twice daily trysts, makes this railway romance every bit as poignant as those set aboard an ocean liner or long-distance jet.

Against the heightened feelings of the pair the writer tells of the tedium and monotory experi- enced by the other passengers who, crammed together, gaze out on to flat landscapes or London suburbs. Their silent observation of, and involvement in, the drama which unfolds while Julia battles to retain her hard-won independence make this an enthralling novel right up to the last page. (Elizabeth Ashman) Julia Lipsalve had everything going for her — a nice boutique, plenty of friends, a loving son Eddie, and a divorce amicably concluded. Then Eddie departs on an Awayday for an interview as reserve bingo caller in Barnstaple, and when Julia seeks to uncover the mysterious circumst- ances surrounding his change of career she finds all lines of inquiry blocked. Only when she meets enigmatic signal-box superintendent Dave Eyebright, an eloquent authority on loop run- ning, does she know she has the help she needs.

Together they embark on a quest for justice that will lead them to Bristol (Temple Mead), to Manchester (Piccadilly) and the Severn Valley Railway, and back again to Solihull and a shattering climax on the dark brooding plat- forms of Birmingham International.

Excess Fare for Julia is a high-tension, action- packed romance which spans the whole world of emotions from the plastic Pullrhan rose to the hot buffet (first-class only).

(Peter Auger)

'With whom does the cord communicate?' The puzzled musings of shy young clergyman Robert Copestone are interrupted when signalman's daughter Julia MacLachlan enters his carriage at Shearer's Halt. Her simple prattle at first irritates him. But when the dashing ticket collector, handsome rail-wise Desmond Raffer- ty, seems to find evidence of irregularity on Julia's Saver Return, irritation turns to compas- sion, compassion to love. This is Sarah Euston's first novel since Above Her Station, which won the 1985 Beeching Award. All the classic ingre- dients are here. Will Julia opt for Desmond's unconventional solution to her dilemma? Will Robert discover the answer to his question? What will be the fate, not only of the characters, but of the threatened branch line? While these questions revolve in the reader's mind, the train rumbles, all unknowingly, toward the damaged Inverdene Viaduct.... Another non-stop gripper from Sarah Euston.

(Gerard Benson) Unable to find a seat on the Glasgow train, Julia is assisted by Jonathan Crewe who is working undercover as a ticket inspector. Their romance burgeons under the fatherly eye of the guard, but in helping him find a fault in the heating system Julia hears of a multi-million fraud by ticket collectors in respect of excess fares. A hurried collection of sleeping pills from the pensioners on board results in the villains being drugged in the buffet car and delivered uncon- scious to the police. Ingeniously woven into the story is much interesting information on how excess fares are calculated, and a fascinating history of how timetables were produced before the modern method of computers using random numbers.

This book is the first of a series produced by British Rail's Literary Department especially for rail travel, and is on sale at station bookstalls and in restaurant cars (if provided).

(D. Shepherd)

In Excess Fare for Julia beautiful Julia Talbot is suddenly thrust against a sinister yet elegant gentleman in a first-class compartment whilst on a Bonus Intercity Supasnve Weekaway Break. It is a moment of no return. From the instant the emergency chain is pulled, Julia finds herself swept into an emotional maelstrom, for the stranger turns out to be a high-ranking BR executive with a free rail pass and time on his hands. Before the novel's shattering climax at Euston, our heroine is shunted from branch line to branch line, searching ever more desperately with her new companion for a way to halt her runaway heart. Excess Fare for Julia is Enid Beeching's gripping sequel to At the Fenland Station.

`Just the ticket'. The Times 'First-class'. Standard `A Maxpax of a novel'. Railway Gazette

(Lene W. Bellgirl)